..Continuation..
1723
Florence, Italy.
Flashback continuation..
1723
Florence, Italy.
Deep in the woods in the middle of the night.
Bang! Bang!!
Several gunshots boomed in the dark.
The crickets creaking in the woods and the frogs croaking around all quietened as the hangings went on.
A hunter held up his musket and inserted a bullet. Then he aimed in a direction.
Bang!
The tree bark was shred off as the bullet scraped it, and sped away. But the target got away.
It was so fast.
The hunter, about a dozen, all searched around for the creature.
"Vampiro! Vampiro!!" One of them yelled, trying to get the others to be more prepared. Of course they know how fast a vampire can be, and how dangerous their speed is.
You wouldn't even see them when they come.
Swoosh!
Something fast struck one of them hard and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
The others became more vigilant, their weapons, all of many kinds and shapes were aimed forth as they scrutinized the surroundings for the vampire.
Swoosh!
A scream was what the others heard and another of them was down, holding his hand which dripped of blood.
The one who seemed to be their leader, gritted and shouted. "Guardati le spalle! (Watch your back?)"
They all formed pairs and had their backs turned at each other as they awaited the vampire.
Soon the vampire showed up again.
Swoosh!
The vampire knocked two of them down but couldn't get away as a bang resonated around.
Bang!
The vampire crashed meters away with a loud grunt.
The leader of the hunters lowered his musket as he ordered. "Andiamo! (Let's go)"
They all rushed to the spot.
Lo and behold, the vampire was on the ground rolling and writhing in pain.
The leader released another shot into the abdomen of the vampire and his roar broke the silence of the night.
One of the hunters held up a fire torch and the light illuminated the face of the vampire.
It's Caius.
After what happened with the lady, the helplessness he felt against her made him furious and he even went to attack this hunters head-on while they were hunting in the woods.
He grimaced and writhed in pain. He knew what's making the wounds suffer him. He's a vampire, any ordinary projectile can't hurt him much. But he knew better than to think the bullets are ordinary, he's familiar with this kind of situation. And he knows the deal.
The bullets aren't ordinary. It's wooden and laced with vervain.
The hunters circled him and prepared to finish him off.
His eyes were watery as he grunted in pain.
Just then, something happened.
All of the sudden, the winds blew heavily and the foliages wiggled around.
The hunters couldn't help but dab their faces against the dust that flew along with the wind.
Pandemonium descended into their midst and their torches died off.
Caius dabbed at his face as the wind persisted. 'What's going on?' he thought.
The leader of the hunters, despite the wind, ordered his men to kill the Vampire and rid the world of yet another beast.
But then the real deal came.
Bang!
The wind seemed to gain intelligence as it gathered up into a circle of whirlwind that uprooted trees and shook the forest hard.
The hunters panicked. Even Caius was scared.
Right before their wide eyes, even before they could blink, the whirlwind rushed at them and struck them hard.
Caius laid down flat and covered his face with his hands. He couldn't hear anything for a while as the howling of the wind continued.
Moments later, everything returned to normal.
Caius raised his head and peeped slightly. When he saw nothing, he sat upright on the ground.
With a wince, he staggered to his feet.
He looked around for the hunters, but their bodies were nowhere to be found.
"You can't find them."
A sweet feminine voice said from behind him and he turned swiftly.
Behold it's the lady he met hours ago.
He frowned deeply as he saw her, his eyes flashed with the fury that's been raging in his mind since.
"You must be stupid to attack a group of hunters. Even though you're a born vampire, you still don't have what it takes to fight the hunters head-on." The lady remarked.
Caius growled when he heard her say this. But her face remained serious, and when Caius saw that she wasn't mocking him, he calmed a bit.
"You were angry because of what I did earlier. You even went on to face a horde of hunters. Bold." The lady shrugged. "Anyway, I'm here now, you can do anything you like. To me."
Caius stared at her, his red eyes menacing and he gritted his teeths. But as he gazed at her, he felt his heart soften, involuntarily, and all his menacing look disappeared.
The lady sighed seeing this. "That means you forgave me."
Caius frowned a bit, then he looked away.
He took a step, with the intention of leaving but his vision blurred and he staggered.
"I think you really need a hand."
In a flash, the lady appeared beside him, holding his arm helping him balance his stance.
Caius glanced at her and gazed intently into her eyes. He had doubt and wary in his eyes but soon it vanished only to be replaced by tenderness. Then he cleared his throat and looked away.
"Okay, this is gonna hurt." The lady said and the side of her lips curled upwards in a cool grin.
Caius nodded, signifying he knew what she's saying and was brazed for it.
The lady's index and thumb pierced the hole in Caius' abdomen. The latter gasped with wide eyes.
Then with a pull, she pulled out the bullet.
She did the same to his shoulder and pulled out the wooden bullet.
Caius grimaced and shut his eyes close as the wounds healed up.
He slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the lady as she stepped back leaving Caius who can now stand on his own.
Caius' forehead wrinkled as he asked. "Who are you?"
"Like I said earlier, I'm a vampire just like you. But I'm more than you."
Caius raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
"It means I'm not like you, Caius."
Caius gaped in surprise at how the lady knew his name, then he smiled. "You are not like me?"
The lady had a serious look as she said, "I know what you're going through."
Caius' eyes glinted and he frowned. A panicked look appeared on his face.
'Doesn't that mean that she knows of his secret?'
The lady shook her head, swinging her Auburn hair, sideways. "Don't worry, I can't reveal it to anyone. And I can help."
Caius frowned, his eyes were calculating as he asked. "And why would you do that?"
"I know your father, Maximus."
Caius flinched at this. His heart calmed and he sighed.
The lady, seeing this, smiled. She stretched her right hand to Caius as she told him her name. "Ava."
Caius gazed at the hand for a while, his mind ruminating and his heart tumbling as he felt like gripping the hand tight and pulling her closer.
But then he sighed. "Caius Casal." He took the hand.
***********
Ava took Caius to a clearing amidst the woods.
Caius looked around in confusion. Ava said she would help him, not bring him to cleared area in the forest.
"You have to learn the control of your powers independently." Ava folded her arms on her chest as she explained. "Your power is different from any other powers I have seen in any born vampires. You will have to learn the control on your own."
"Uh?!" Caius gawked. "Learn the control on my own?! That's definitely impossible.
"Nothing is impossible." Ava stated simply. "Get ready. You have to fight me and bring out the true born in you."
"Uh?!" Caius gulped.
However, within a second, Ava was right before him. Before he could blink, he was sent flying away and he crashed into a tree.
Grunting loudly, he got up as Ava walked towards him.
"What are you doing?!" Caus snapped.
"Fight me and win. Call out your power and defeat me."
"You're impossibly fast and strong. To my shock, I can't even compete with you. How the hell am I supposed to beat you?!"
"You have to. You've to be able to defeat any opponent."
Bang!
Ava attacked and kept on attacking.
This went on for hours. The thrashing, the crashing, the beating. Caius got it all.
He couldn't return a scratch. Ava was just too fast.
After about seven hours of thrashing, which Ava called practicing, Caius was laying on the ground unable to move a finger.
"Control without an external agent is impossible." Caius yelled, still on the ground.
"Okay! You know what, let me explain things to you in a clearer way." Ava impatient as she expatiate. "Your power is a two-edged sword. It's either it kills the opponent or it kills you. Like a scale balance scale, it tips from you to an opponent and tips from the opponent to you if there's any mistake or alteration.
If you get the control with the help of an agent, it might work at first but as time went by, there would be imbalances."
Caius had a rejected look on his face as he ruminated on what Ava said. His countenance slowly morphed into a perplexed one as he muttered. "You mean the Phoenix flower might not be the way?"
"Of course it's not. Even though Phoenix flower helps supernaturals calm their minds to meditate and get more grip of themselves, it can't work out well if you use it, Caius." Ava sighed seeing Caius look. She couldn't help but feel sympathy for Caius' perplexity now. "I'm sorry."
Caius turned away from her, the perplexed look slowly changing to a kind of sad expression.
"You shouldn't be like that. Your father is gone but that doesn't mean that you are without help now."
Caius snapped his face back to Ava as he asked. "What do you mean?"
"Remember, I said I'll help you." Ava nodded as she watched Caius gaze at her with shock. "I'll help."
"Thanks for that. But how do we do this without the Phoenix flower?"
"We will see to that." Ava turned her gaze away from Caius' eyes as she said, "I know something to do."
*********
Casal Castle
Caius had a complex look on his face as he scribbled down on a parchment, the feather in his hand swaying like a silk in the wind.
He wanted to leave a message for Bones-the-old, to inform him that he(Caius) won't be around for a while.
Caius dipped the tip of the feather into an ink bottle then brought it on the parchment again as he continued writing.
After a few minutes, he dropped the ink with an exhalation.
He wrapped the dry skin into a pipe shape. His eyes flashed around the hall as he looked for where to put it, where Bones could see it, where his mind would go the moment he couldn't find Caius.
Caius' eyes flashed as he remembered one. His neck turned to the left and he could see a frame perched on the south wall just beside the floor to ceiling window that had an arc hovering above it.
In the frame was a painting of the Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello.
He sped to the painting and tucked the parchment behind it.
'I have to do this.' Caius thought before zooming out of the house.
********